Development of new manufacturing orders - in October 2022

According to the Federal Statistical Office¹, incoming orders rose by 0.8% month-on-month in October.² Orders thus stabilised again after two sharp declines in August and September (-2.0 and -2. 9% respectively). Overall, orders were recently 3.2% below the level of the same month last year.

The slight month-on-month increase is mainly due to a recovery in foreign demand. It was 2.5% higher than in the previous month. Domestic orders, on the other hand, dropped by 1.9%. Looking at the sectors of the economy, the important area of motor vehicles and parts in particular was able to recover from the previous month's decline with an increase in orders of 5.5%. There was a slight decrease of 0.8% in mechanical engineering. In contrast, orders in the chemical and pharmaceutical products sectors fell more sharply (-2.1% and -14.3% respectively).

Orders received in October were roughly at the same level as before the COVID-19 pandemic. Orders, which had increased significantly at times since the summer of 2020 as a result of catch-up effects and increasing supply bottlenecks, have now somewhat stabilised. In addition to the slightly improved sentiment indicators, this is another indication that the recession could be weaker than originally feared, even if the outlook for industrial activity remains subdued.

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1 Press release by the Federal Statistical Office of 6 December 2022.
2 All figures are based on provisional data and have been adjusted for price, calendar day and seasonal factors (X13 JDemetra+ procedure).